The COVID-19 pandemic has been around for over two years now; that’s two years where most medical practices have primarily worked virtually. While mass adoption of telemedicine was initially a response to the pandemic, it’s enduring popularity means it will likely continue to remain a key part of healthcare in the years to come. While digital care tools have done a great deal to expand healthcare service availability, there is a major disadvantage to going virtual: cybersecurity.

Cybersecurity breaches in healthcare hit an all-time high in 2021, the second year of the pandemic when most practices had already pivoted to virtual care, exposing the personal health information of nearly 45 million patients. Lawmakers have already indicated that they are working on proposals to reinforce the cyber security infrastructure within critical industries, which includes healthcare. However, like any government endeavor, it will probably take a long time for anything concrete to come out of these initiatives.

In the meantime, practices will have to be proactive and do what they can on their own to harden their defenses. Here are 4 tips for improving cybersecurity at your practice:

1. Security awareness training

There is no shortage of digital tools available for improving cybersecurity. However, these tools only offer protection from external attacks, ignoring the dangers posed by internal weaknesses. The first line of defense for any practice is their employees, who are often woefully unprepared and undereducated on matters of cybersecurity.

In addition to investing in better tools, it is also imperative for practices to invest in cybersecurity training for their employees. Security awareness training should cover the following:

• Incident response plans
• Password management
• Device security
• Spotting phishing scams

And much more.

2. Better password management

With so much of our digital infrastructure now based on cloud technology, password management is more important than ever for cybersecurity. Many continue to use simple passwords, such as birthdays, addresses, names of pets, etc. despite constant warnings from security experts about the danger doing so puts them in. Having the same password for everything might be convenient, but it also means hackers simply need to crack one to gain access to all of your accounts.

Better password management starts with password standards. Many platforms now require short and complex passwords that include both lower and uppercase letters, numbers and special characters. These standards are continuing to evolve, with the focus recently shifting from complexity to length as longer passwords are harder to crack.

Simply creating a better password isn’t enough, however. Passwords must also be stored properly; too often are passwords kept in easily accessible documents or spreadsheets or left in auto-logins in browsers. In these cases, hackers simply need access to the computer to gain access to all of the passwords. A secure password management software should be provided to all employees, so they can securely store all of their passwords in one place. These password management software applications are also able to generate strong passwords, making it easier for employees to maintain robust password hygiene without sacrificing convenience.. These applications are also able to generate strong passwords.

Finally, password sharing should be forbidden at all costs.

3. Stricter access management

With workforces becoming more and more distributed as time goes on, losing track of who has access to what is becoming easier. Access rights should be limited to a subset of users based on their roles. This minimizes risk to the organization, as employees won’t have access to information they don’t need.

To stay on top access, organizations should take the following steps:

• Assess current data, users, process flows, and procedures
• Assign users appropriate roles and privileges
• Monitor access privileges regularly. A high employee turnover can easily create risk
• Regularly audit access privileges

4. Use encryption

The reason solutions for cybersecurity remain elusive is the ever evolving nature of the threats. In the face of threats that are constantly changing their methods and avenues of attack, encryption software is a must have. Data encryption is a form of security where information is encoded to make it unreadable without first being decrypted using the key.

Through the use of strong encryption software, practices can improve cybersecurity and protect their intellectual property. Most popular encryption solutions are also HIPAA compliant.